Augustus morton



(No ModeI'.)

A. MORTON. BICYCLE BELL. No. 480,026. Patented Aug. 2,1892.

A WITNESSES IJV VENTOR f Nitin Pinns AUGUSTUS MORTON, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE BRIDGEPORT BRASS COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

BICYCLE-BELL.,

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 480,026, dated August 2, 1892.

Application tiled February 29, 1892. Serial No. 423,213. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, AUGUSTUS MoRToN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bridgeport, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bicycle- Bells; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the saine.

My invention relates to the class of alarmbells used upon bicycles and for various analogous purposes, and has for its object to simplify and cheapen the construction and at the same time to greatlyimprove the operation in use, it being desirable to avoid the use of winding-springs, to reduce the number of parts, to insure that the bell be struck the instant the operating-lever is moved, and that the blows of the hammer continue so long as the lever is moved, and also that contact of the hammer with the bell, chiming, as it is ordinarily called, be absolutely prevented when the lever is at its normal condition, and it is furthermore absolutely essential that the mechanism be reliable and durable.

With these ends in view I have devised the simple and novel construction which I will now describe, referring by numbers to the accompanying drawings, forming part ot this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a plan View of the operative parts of the mechanism in their normal position,the bell being removed; Fig. 2, a similar View, the hammer being about to strike a blow; Fig. 3,a section on the line a: in Fig. 1, looking toward the right, showing all the parts of the bell; and Fig. 4 is a section on the line y y in Fig. 1, looking toward the top.

l denotes the base, 2 a standard projecting upward therefrom, and 3 the bell. The upper end of the standard is reduced, leavinga shoulder 4, upon which asegment-gear 5 rests. This segment-gear is provided with a sleeve G, so as to give ample bearing on the standard, on which it turns freely. Above sleeve 6 is a plate 7, provided with a sleeve 8, the upper end of which is reduced, leaving a shoulder 9. Sleeve S is locked against rotation on the standard by means of a set-screw 10. The bell,wliich is of ordinary construction, is provided with a central opening through which the standard and the upper end of sleeve 8 pass, the bell resting on shoulder 9 and being locked in position and the parts secured iogether by a screw 1l, engaging theend of the standard. 12 denotes the operatin g lever, which is made integral with or rigidly secured to the segment-gear 5, and is provided with a stop-pin 13, the purpose of which will be pi'esently explained.

14 is a spring ot any suitable construction, the action ot' which is to hold the operatinglever in its normal position.

In the drawings I have shown a coil-spring surrounding the standard, one end of which is bent upward to bear against plate 7, as at 15, the other end being bent upward to bear against the operating-lever, as at 16. The shape of plate 7 is of course not of the essence oi my invention. At the outer end of said plate is pivoted a verge 17, and extending outward from said verge is the shank 18 of the hammer 19.

2O is an escape-wheel, and 21 a pinion made integral therewith or rigidly secured thereto, said escape-wheel and pinion being j ournaled on a stud 22, extending downward from plate 7. The pinion is engaged by segment-gear o and the gear-wlieel engages the Verge, so that movement of the operating-lever,which.is rigidly secured to the segment-gear,will vibrate the verge and hammer while the operatinglever is moving, it necessarily resulting that the blows of the hammer upon the bell will commence the instant the lever begins to move and will continue so long as the lever is moved in either direction. When the lever is in its normal position, as in Fig. 1, stop-pin 13 is in such a position that the hammer will rest against it and cannot possibly come in contact with the bell,thus wholly preventing the so-called chiming, which is such a serious objection to many of the bells of this class now in use. The instant the lever begins to move, however, pin 13 passes out of the way of the hammer and allows the latter to strike the bell freely.

It will of course be understood that the va- IOO 2. The eombinatiomwith the bell and hammer, of the operating-lever, connections intermediate the operating-lever and the hammer which vibrate the latter when the lever is moved, a spring acting to return the lever to position, and a stop upon the lever7 which is normally engaged by the hammer to prevent the latter from striking the bell.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

AUGUSTUS MOR'PON.

Witnesses:

S. A. BIRDSEYE, EDW. F. SANDERS. 

